The former Israeli Prime Minister who bent over backwards to try and gain peace with the Syrians and the PLO, (only to be played the fool) staged a bit of a comeback today as he won the Labor Party leadership post replacing the incompetent Amir Peretz. It seems all but certain Barak will also take over for Peretz as Defence Minister and once again face Bibi Netanyahu in the next election for Prime Minister. Barak was billed as "the only politician that can defeat Netanyahu" who is extremely popular right now. He did it once before in 1999, but after many failures was trounced by Ariel Sharon two years later.

Never a dull moment in Israeli politics. What I'm going to be watching for is whether Barak, when he becomes Defense Minister, makes some rather hawkish moves militarily in order to quell Bibi's popularity. Stay tuned.